Protective Effect of Curcumin against Doxazosin- and Carvedilol-Induced Oxidative Stress in HepG2 Cells.

Doxazosin and carvedilol have been evaluated as an alternative treatment against chronic liver lesions and for their possible role during the regeneration of damage caused by liver fibrosis in a hamster model. However, these drugs have been reported to induce morphological changes in hepatocytes, affecting the recovery of liver parenchyma. The effects of these α/𝛽 adrenoblockers on the viability of hepatocytes are unknown. Herein, we demonstrate the protective effect of curcumin against the possible side effects of doxazosin and carvedilol, drugs with proven antifibrotic activity. After pretreatment with 1 µM curcumin for 1 h, HepG2 cells were exposed to 0.1-25 µM doxazosin or carvedilol for 24, 48, and 72 h. Cell viability was assessed using the MTT assay and SYTOX green staining. Morphological changes were detected using the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An expression of apoptotic and oxidative stress markers was analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The results indicate that doxazosin decreases cell viability in a time- and dose-dependent manner, whereas carvedilol increases cell proliferation; however, curcumin increases or maintains cell viability. SEM and H&E staining provided evidence that doxazosin and carvedilol induced morphological changes in HepG2 cells, and curcumin protected against these effects, maintaining the morphology in 90% of treated cells. Furthermore, curcumin positively regulated the expression of Nrf2, HO-1, and SOD1 mRNAs in cells treated with 0.1 and 0.5 µM doxazosin. Moreover, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was higher in cells that were treated with curcumin before doxazosin or carvedilol. The present study demonstrates that curcumin controls doxazosin- and carvedilol-induced cytotoxicity and morphological changes in HepG2 cells possibly by overexpression of Nrf2.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/AKT Pathway Inhibition by Doxazosin Promotes Glioblastoma Cells Death, Upregulation of p53 and Triggers Low Neurotoxicity.

Glioblastoma is the most frequent and malignant brain tumor. Treatment includes chemotherapy with temozolomide concomitant with surgical resection and/or irradiation. However, a number of cases are resistant to temozolomide, as well as the human glioblastoma cell line U138-MG. We investigated doxazosin's (an antihypertensive drug) activity against glioblastoma cells (C6 and U138-MG) and its neurotoxicity on primary astrocytes and organoptypic hippocampal cultures. For this study, the following methods were used: citotoxicity assays, flow cytometry, western-blotting and confocal microscopy. We showed that doxazosin induces cell death on C6 and U138-MG cells. We observed that doxazosin's effects on the PI3K/Akt pathway were similar as LY294002 (PI3K specific inhibitor). In glioblastoma cells treated with doxasozin, Akt levels were greatly reduced. Upon examination of activities of proteins downstream of Akt we observed upregulation of GSK-3ß and p53. This led to cell proliferation inhibition, cell death induction via caspase-3 activation and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase in glioblastoma cells. We used in this study Lapatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, as a comparison with doxazosin because they present similar chemical structure. We also tested the neurocitotoxicity of doxazosin in primary astrocytes and organotypic cultures and observed that doxazosin induced cell death on a small percentage of non-tumor cells. Aggressiveness of glioblastoma tumors and dismal prognosis require development of new treatment agents. This includes less toxic drugs, more selective towards tumor cells, causing less damage to the patient. Therefore, our results confirm the potential of doxazosin as an attractive therapeutic antiglioma agent.

Homologous recombination induced by doxazosin mesylate and saw palmetto in the Drosophila wing-spot test.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common tumor in men over 40 years of age. Acute urinary retention (AUR) is regarded as the most serious hazard of untreated BPH. α-Blockers, such as doxazosin mesylate, and 5-α reductase inhibitors, such as finasteride, are frequently used because they decrease both AUR and the need for BPH-related surgery. An extract of the fruit from American saw palmetto plant has also been used as an alternative treatment for BPH. The paucity of information available concerning the genotoxic action of these compounds led us to assess their activity as inducers of different types of DNA lesions using the somatic mutation and recombination test in Drosophila melanogaster. Finasteride did not induce gene mutation, chromosomal mutation or mitotic recombination, which means it was nongenotoxic in our experimental conditions. On the other hand, doxazosin mesylate and saw palmetto induced significant increases in spot frequencies in trans-heterozygous flies. In order to establish the actual role played by mitotic recombination and by mutation in the genotoxicity observed, the balancer-heterozygous flies were also analyzed, showing no increment in the total spot frequencies in relation to the negative control, for both drugs. Doxazosin mesylate and saw palmetto were classified as specific inducers of homologous recombination in Drosophila proliferative cells, an event linked to the loss of heterozygosity.

Chiral recognition of doxazosin enantiomers in 3 targets for therapy as well as adverse drug reactions in animal experiments.

Doxazosin used in benign prostatic hyperplasia has the side effects of causing hypotension and the risk of heart failure. The 3 targets of α(1A)-adrenoceptors (in the prostate), α(1D)-adrenoceptors (in the aorta), and an unknown mechanism (in the heart) are involved, respectively. We hypothesized that there is a chiral recognition of doxazosin enantiomers in the 3 targets. Using isolated rat aorta (α(1D)-adrenoceptors) and rabbit prostate (α(1A)-adrenoceptors), we examined pA(2) and pK(B) values of doxazosin enantiomers. We observed chronotropic and inotropic effects of doxazosin enantiomers in isolated rat and rabbit heart tissues. (-)Doxazosin and (+)doxazosin produced a shift to the right of concentration-contraction curves for noradrenalin (aorta) and phenylephrine (prostate smooth muscle). The pA(2) value of (-)doxazosin (8.625 ± 0.053) was smaller than (+)doxazosin (9.503 ± 0.051) in rat aorta, but their pK(B) values in rabbit prostate were the same. In rat and rabbit heart tissues, (+)doxazosin (3-30 µmol·L(-1)) significantly decreased atrial rate, and produced negative inotropic effects; however, (-)doxazosin did not affect the atrial rate, and produced positive inotropic effects in the atria. Thus, the chiral carbon atom of doxazosin does not affect its activity at the therapeutic target of α(1A)-adrenoceptors in the prostate, but significantly changes its blocking activity against α(1D)-adrenoceptors in the aorta, and produces opposite inotropic effects in the atria via an α(1)-adrenoceptor-independent mechanism.

Doxazosin GITS versus hydrochlorothiazide as add-on therapy in patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

The objective of this prospective, randomized, open-label, parallel-arm comparative study, with a 4-month follow-up, was to assess the antihypertensive efficacy, tolerability and metabolic safety of doxazosin GITS (gastrointestinal therapeutic system) 4-8 mg/day vs hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 12.5-25 mg/day as add-on therapy in patients not controlled with monotherapy with other drugs. Ninety-eight patients completed the study (mean age 57.4 +/- 15 years, 53% female). Mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure reduction was 8.2/4.5 mmHg in the HCTZ group and 8.9/5.0 mmHg in the doxazosin GITS group, and a strict blood pressure control was achieved in 79% and 83% of the patients, respectively. The incidence rates of adverse events were low and similar in both groups. However, metabolic differences were seen between the groups, doxazosin GITS vs HCTZ, respectively: total cholesterol (mg/dl) 210 +/- 53 vs 231 +/- 62 (p < 0.05), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (mg/dl) 139 +/- 40 vs 161 +/- 57 (p < 0.01), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (mg/dl) 58 +/- 16 vs 48 +/- 13 (p < 0.01), HDL/total cholesterol ratio 27.6 +/- 8 vs 21.2 +/- 7 (p < 0.001), plasma uric acid (mg/dl) 5.3 +/- 2.6 vs 6.8 +/- 3.1 (p < 0.05) and serum potassium (mEq/l) 4.1 +/- 1.3 vs. 3.7 +/- 1.2 (p < 0.01). In conclusion, doxazosin GITS has a tolerability and efficacy profile similar to low doses of thiazide diuretics, with a better evolution of metabolic and electrolyte parameters. Therefore, in patients not controlled with monotherapy, doxazosin GITS can be considered an alternative to the addition of thiazide diuretics.